Wilberger completed her freshman year Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in 2004. Over the summer vacation she was visiting her sister and brother-in-law at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Her sister and brother-in-law manage the apartment complex where they lived, Oak Park Apartments, and Wilberger assisted them. The complex is in the 1200 block of southwest 26th Street near Oregon State University, across the street from Reser Stadium.

Wilberger was last seen by her sister shortly after 10:00 a.m. on May 24, 2004. She was cleaning light bulb covers in the tall lamps in the parking lot of Oak Park Apartments at the time. Two tenants reported hearing a scream a short time afterwards. When her sister went back to the parking lot at 10:30 a.m., Wilberger was gone. Her bucket of soapy water and other cleaning implements were still in the lot. Wilberger left behind all of her personal belongings when she disappeared, including her purse, wallet, keys, cellular phone, and her car, a Ford Contour. Her sister reported her missing to the police that afternoon, having searched for her with no result.

Wilberger's sandals were found in the parking lot after her disappearance. They were separated from each other by a few feet and turned to the side at an angle. The sandals, coupled with the fact that Wilberger had vanished suddenly and had left all her things behind, lead police to believe she had been kidnapped. An extensive search of the Corvallis area failed to turn up any trace of her.

Almost a month after Wilberger's disappearance, police named Sung Koo Kim as a possible suspect in her apparent abduction. Kim was arrested in June 2004 and charged with the theft of women's undergarments from college dormitories across the Willamette Valley, including Oregon State University. Investigators found dryer lint in Kim's home that was labeled with the name of Oak Park Apartments. They found human hair, bags of dryer lint, over 3,400 pairs of women's panties, and 4,000 bondage pornography videotapes, and over 40,000 pornographic images on Kim's computer. Also discovered were assault rifles, handguns, ammunition, gas masks, and videotapes of two local women, both college students, who had been filmed by Kim without their knowledge or permission. Kim's arrest and possible connection with Wilberger's disappearance were highly publicized and he faced a very large bail, ten million dollars, on the theft, weapons and pornography charges. He stated that he was innocent of involvement in Wilberger's case and maintained that he had been in another city when she vanished. In February 2005, investigators ruled him out as a suspect, stating that they had investigated every lead they had on him and could find no evidence to link him to Wilberger. Afterwards, Kim's bail was reduced over tenfold.

In a surprise move in August 2005, over a year after Wilberger's disappearance, authorities charged Joel Patrick Courtney with rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, kidnapping, and aggravated murder in connection with her disappearance. Courtney, who is married with three children, has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and possible mental illness, and a criminal record, including sex offenses, drug offenses, and assaults, which dates back at least twenty years. He has traveled extensively throughout his life; he is known to have been in Alaska, Florida, Arizona and Mexico in addition to Oregon and New Mexico.

Prior to being charged with Wilberger's murder, Courtney was charged with kidnapping and raping a foreign exchange student at the University of New Mexico. The incident occurred six months after Wilberger vanished and reportedly the circumstances are remarkably similar to Wilberger's abduction. The victim, who was 22 years old at the time of the attack, reported she was forced into a car at knifepoint, bound, gagged and raped before being driven to a parking lot, where she freed herself and escaped. In September 2007, just as he was about to go to trial for the New Mexico abduction, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration in that case. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with five to twenty years of parole after his release. Courtney could not be extradited to Oregon while the New Mexico case was pending; now that it is concluded, he can be sent to Oregon to face trial for Wilberger's alleged murder.

A photograph of Courtney is posted below this case summary. He was supposed to be in court for a drunk driving case the morning Wilberger vanished, but never arrived. Authorities stated they had witnesses that placed him within blocks of the abduction site around the time Wilberger was kidnapped. DNA from Wilberger was also found in Courtney's green Dodge Caravan. Other items possibly connected with the case, including duct tape, a white rope tied like a noose, and blonde hairs were found inside Courtney's house.

Wilberger's remains have not been located, but they believe there is enough evidence to convict Courtney. He could face the death penalty. Investigators believe he may have killed other women besides Wilberger; they are investigating the possibility that he was involved in the disappearance of Katheryn Eggleston, a recent college graduate who disappeared from Portland, Oregon in 1994. She is blonde and blue-eyed like Wilberger, and the women were in the same age bracket at the time of their disappearance. So far, no evidence has been located to tie Courtney to Eggleston, however.

In May 2006, Wilberger's parents filed a lawsuit against Creative Building Maintenance, the cleaning company that employed him at the time of her disappearance. Her parents, who are seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages, charge that the company was negligent when they hired Courtney, did not conduct a background check, and failed to supervise him adequately. He was allegedly driving a company vehicle when he abducted Wilberger. Creative Building Maintenance filed for bankruptcy before the lawsuit was filed, however, so it is unclear whether Wilberger's parents will be able to collect any damages even if their suit prevails.

Wilberger's loved ones say she is a responsible, studious person and would not leave without telling anyone. She is a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more often known as the Mormons, and does not drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or use illicit drugs. Her longtime boyfriend was on a religious mission trip to Venezuela in May 2004. Wilberger is a native of Eugene, Oregon and her parents live in Vaneta, Oregon. She is a graduate of Elmira High School and played soccer and ran track there. Wilberger was majoring in elementary education at college, specializing in speech pathology, and was a B student her first year. She worked to help pay for her education. Foul play is suspected in Wilberger's case due to the circumstances involved.

Left: Wilberger's sweatshirt;
Right: Courtney